Oil’s well that ends well

Far be it from me to take the side of a car dealership, but Pickering Toyota really came through for me.

More than 10 years ago, I bought a 2007 Camry from them. It was beautiful – aloe green and with sleek new styling. Ten years on, it’s still comfortable and I’ve driven thousands of miles in it.

The only problem – and it was a big one – was that early on, I noticed it was eating oil. When I first asked about that at the dealership, I was told it would cost about $4,000 to replace the engine.

“Well,” I said, “That’s a lot of engine oil.” So I kept topping up the oil for years. A couple of years ago, when I took the car in for a routine service, they asked if I wanted the oil changed.

“Are you kidding?” I laughed, explaining I was adding oil on a monthly basis. I had already Googled the problem and found this problem was common with this particular model. That’s when I was told there was hope. Toyota was starting to recall those cars to fix the problem. I did an oil consumption test, where they filled it up with oil and then sealed the tank. I was supposed to go for about three months, as I recall, then have the mechanics at the dealership check the oil to see how much had been used.

Before the time was up, the oil light came on. My car flunked the test. It was eating oil at an alarming rate. So my car was put on the list. I waited. And waited. Then a few weeks ago, I got the call. They were ready to fix my car. They even gave me a rental car while it was fixed.

Would I prefer my car didn’t have the problem in the first place? Of course. But you have to hand it to Pickering Toyota. They fixed a 10-year-old car – and made me one very happy customer.